Filling all 4 slots on A8N-SLI Premium?

Nosferatu

I recent replaced my Corsair RAM with two dual channel kits (OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K). Both times now when I've played Battlefield 2 it has frozen after about an hour or two. The first time was when the map was changing and the second time was after I disconnected from the server and was looking through my statistics in BFHQ within the game. When it freezes there is a high pitched buzz and it hard locks, I have to hard reboot it. I see nothing in the windows event log about the cause. However, the first time it froze it blue screened and I saw nv4_XXX.dll, I forgot what the XXX was.. but I think I remember nv4 in there.

Anyway, this has only been happening since I installed the new RAM. I had 4 Corsair modules in there before and there was no issues (they were CMX512-3200LLPRO v1.0). Does anyone have any idea of what could be wrong? I'm also using Windows XP Pro. x64 Edition. The DDR voltage option in the BIOS was set to auto (which after testing i've found it sets it to 2.70v), so I set it to 2.75v now as is written on the product page. I'm not sure if this will fix it, could 2.70v vs. 2.75v be the difference between freezing and not?

I ran memtest86 for 12 hours straight yesterday running through all the tests (booting the cd and leaving it) and there were 0 errors. I'm also running folding@home right now and have been for the past few hours and no problems either.

The timings are set to 2-2-2-5 w/ 2T at stock speeds (CPU-Z Screenshots). What should I set the other options (Trc, Trfc, Trwt, Twr) to? Can the RAM run at 2-2-2-5 when all 4 DIMM slots are filled? I didn't get the 2GB (2x1GB) set because I thought I remembered reading you couldn't get 2-2-2-5 with two 1GB modules.

Thanks

Nosferatu

Battlefield 2 just crashed again when I was working in the menu and the RAM is at 2.75v. This time it crashed right to the desktop but didn't lock up the system. I haven't had these problems until I replaced the RAM.

shwaip

Check the mobo manual to make sure that it supports four slots filled without special qualifications. I'd check the manual at asus's site for you, but it's really slow right now.

Mt_Goat

You will need to make sure it is running 2T and then back off the rest of your timing s a little. It will not support 1T with all 4 slots filled. If you are overclocked at all it may have an effect also with all 4 filled.

Nosferatu

If I can't solve the issue, do you think it be better to just buy an OCZ 2GB Kit and sell what I have now? It might be more cost effective if I could get similar OC/speed potential, would the 2x1GB be similar to the 4x512MB I have now?

Right now it's at 2T (it refused to boot at 1T when I first installed it). I look in the manual and didn't see anything about not being able to install 4 DS modules at the same time, however there is no OCZ RAM on the qualified vendors list... not sure how much that means. Shouldn't memtest86 for 12 hours stress the RAM enough to show errors? It seems weird BF2 would do it but I don't see problems in other things... though BF2 is one hell of a stress test.


Added
Bah, i've just decided to sell them and buy the 2GB kit. Live and learn I guess

I'm listing them in the trading forum for $150+$3.85 if anyone is interested! Thanks for the help!

TheLostSwede

Nosferatu,

I am testing your config as we speak to be sure there are no problems.
Can you boot into windows and load A64 tweaker and take a screenie?

Try Prime 95 blended (default)..if it lasts over 3 hours, there is something else in your system that creates the issue. What is your swapfile set to right now? Is the swapfile on the same partition as the game?

Nosferatu

It wasn't just Battlefield 2, after using the system more it would lock up quite often (wouldn't last more than 10 hrs, usually less). I became so fed up I removed two modules and left the other two in, and the system is now running at 2-2-2-5 @ 1T with no issues, it ran Prime95 blended for 3 hrs, 3 minutes with no issues.

Were you able to reproduce it with two OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K kits in an A8N-SLI Premium w/ 1005 BIOS? Basically, it's rock solid w/ two sticks, horribly unstable with 4 sticks. I even tried loosening the timings a lot, all the way to 3-3-3-6 @ 2T I believe.. and same problems.



That is with one 2x512MB kit in. If you can't reproduce it and you really want me to do it with the modules back in, let me know and i'll put all 4 back in, it's just a pain after doing it so many times. The only things I really change are the timings and even loosening them didn't help. They were running at 2.75v btw. I looked in a DFI mobo. manual and it said due to limitations in the A64 architecture when you used all 4 slots, you had to use DDR333. So I did... yet same instability... that was the point I said screw it and took 2 modules out lol.

Thanks in advance for any insight into the issue.

jradmin

I hope this isnt going to be an issue for the A8N SLI delux board to. I'm about to put 2 gigs (4 slots) of the same OCZ palt rev2 in mine.

GrayFox

Have you ran memtest ?.

lemonlime

You should be fine running 4xDIMMs so long as it is running at 2T. My suggestion would be to try 2-3-2 timings, instead of 2-2-2. 3-3-3 timings may not be the best choice for TCCD based memory. I actually had some issues with CAS3 on my plat rev.2 memory. Also, (just for testing sake) try to give it some more vdimm. 2.8-2.9 volts should be fine for TCCD. What is the maximum your board supports?

The venice/san diego based A64's can run 4-dimms at DDR400 2T, where the older cores (newcastle, winchester etc), were suppsoed to downclock the memory to DDR333.

Another option you could try: increase your CPU vcore just a touch. Since the memory controller is integrated, you may get increased stability that way. If the default is 1.35 or 1.4, try 1.45V or so.

TheLostSwede

Another thing..it could be the memorycontroller that isn't as good as it should be. I have seen it several times before. Since you have a Venice, DDR400 and 4 dualbanks is supported by the cpu, but possibly not by the mainboard. 2T is a must though, no matter the speed. Change the Drive strength to weak as well as running with 2.5,3,3,8 timings at forst. Trc to 12 and Trfc to 16 may also help.

Nosferatu

I had it on 2-3-2-5, 2-3-2-6, @ 2T etc. and couldn't get it stable. The weird thing is... when it was unstable like this, I booted memtest86 off a CD-R and it went 12 hours straight with 0 errors doing all the tests multiple times. I thought this memory used TCC5 instead of TCCD now? Any easy way to get the heatspreaders off without damaging the RAM, assuming removing the heatspreaders doesn't void your warranty?

TheLostSwede

If it says V1.1 on the sticker, it uses TCC5. Otherwise, it's TCCD but it is the same chips so it really doesn't matter.

Nosferatu

Before I put the RAM back in to test out some of these suggestions, if I can get it stable... would it still be feasible to overclock much with the 4 sticks in? I figured it would be better to OC with 4x512MB than 2x1GB, which is why I bought the two 1GB (2x512) kits.

Thanks

TheLostSwede

It OC's better than the Platinum 2GB kit, but the board you have..the Asus..is not a good clocker at all. Set the timings at 2.5,3,3,7 at first.

Nosferatu

I've read ASUS has improved the OC'ing ability of the SLI boards a lot with the Premium compared to the Deluxe and Regular? Anyway, here are my current settings...





I'm going to try and get BF2 to lock up the system and if that doesn't work, i'll run Prime95 blended and see if it can last a few hours. If it's stable like this, what should the next step be? The timings? The CPU voltage? If it's not stable, the only thing left would be raising the memory voltage to 2.8v+, correct?

Thanks

Btw. not that it's relevant for this but the chipset temp is usually the same as the CPU temp, but the case is on it's side right now so the heatpipe must not be working as well.

Nosferatu

It crashed when I tried to mess around in the BF2 menu (this doesn't happen with 2x512MB @ 2-2-2-5 w/ 1T or Corsair XMS 3200LLPRO v1.0 w/ 4x512MB using 2-3-2-6 w/ 2T, so it shouldn't be a BF2 issue).



A quick google shows ha10kx2k.sys is a sound driver for my sb audigy2. I'll try running Prime95 blended test now.

Nosferatu

Thanks for everyones help, but i've decided to only keep 1GB and sell the other. As soon as I took the other two DIMM's out I can run 2-2-2-5 w/ 1T @ 2.75v with no problems. In the BFHQ menu of Battlefield 2 where just clicking a bunch would lock up the system with 2GB, is rock solid with 1GB at the 2-2-2-5, 1T timings. I can't justify the $170 to myself when the four OCZ sticks perform worse the four 3+ year old Corsair 3200LLPRO v1.0 sticks, let alone trying to OC them. I figure it's better to have a stable system with 1GB that can be OC'ed nicely, rather than an unstable 2GB system that has trouble staying stable at stock speeds. I guess i'll have to wait for 1GB modules to improve or look into the Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1GB modules. I appreciate everyones help on this issue, I really wish I could have gotten things working better since when it didn't crash, BF2 ran so slick with 2GB. :bawling:

btw... Prime95 ran for 4 hours straight at 2.5-3-3-8 w/ 2T... so did 3DMark2005, yet BF2 would still crash. That would lead you to believe it was something other than the memory... but when I removed 2 of the DIMM's, it runs great at much tighter timings. So that leads you to believe it might be the motherboard itself... but I was able to run four Corsair 3200LLPRO v1.0 (not overclocked) at 2-3-2-6 @ 2T rock solid. Maybe everything is just a bad combination, who knows.

TheLostSwede

I'm a little puzzled as well. I do know that the Audigy and the Asus board doesn't work well together if you clock. Maybe it could be the issue here as well? 2T is a must with 4 sticks though. Lemme know if you want to try and rma one pair or both.

Mt_Goat

Have you tried remving the Audigy from your system and re-test it? It could be worth a try!

Nosferatu

Thanks guys, but I have decided to sell them. Shipped one kit off to France this morning and i'll sell the next once the OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K kit I ordered arrives. I decided i'd rather have 2GB at 2-3-2-5 1T @ 400MHz instead of OC'ing. After playing BF2 w/ 2GB of my old Corsair RAM, I couldn't just go back to 1GB... you all know how that is.

Also, when I had OC'ed these modules i'm using now (OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K) to DDR500, 250HTT, 2.5GHz I saw no FPS increases in any of my games... though I did see 1000+ MB/sec increase in memory bandwidth. I expected to see some FPS increases after reading this article: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/athlon64oc/ but nada in Counter-Strike: Source stress test or BF2.

moots

Nosferatu wrote:

... once the OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K kit I ordered arrives. I decided i'd rather have 2GB at 2-3-2-5 1T @ 400MHz instead of OC'ing. After playing BF2 w/ 2GB of my old Corsair RAM, I couldn't just go back to 1GB... you all know how that is.

Hi Nosferatu,

I'm on the verge of purchasing a A8N-SLI Premium and have been looking into memory configurations. How does the new 2x1gb OCZ kit work in the mobo?

Also, I'd be interested to know from the OCZ dudes here whether the A8N will work with 4 banks populated (4x1gb), just to cover future upgrades. I see from earlier replies that you must run 4 banks at 2T - can the rest of the timings stay the same? Looking at the Asus DDR400 Qualified Vendors List, all of the modules which officially have support for use in 4 banks are all CL3, though this list may well be getting out of date.

I've realised I've opened up a big can of worms by picking RAM carefully rather that just getting the cheapest... there's plenty of small print to read: CL1.5 actually requires OC; "Intel tested at CL2, AMD CL2.5" for some modules; 2x1gb doesn't have the 2-2-2-5 of 2x512mb, and then you add-in trying to use 4x something, which doesn't always work. Maybe I'll just stick to old tech

Cheers for any insight you can offer! Btw, I'm aiming for a stable system with decently fast RAM rather than a mega-OC'd setup.


Moots


Current system:
XP2800+, Asus A7V333
1x1gb RAM (er, Crucial I think)
Enermax 350w
Coolermaster ATC 101
9800 Pro AGP
Iiyama E511S 20.1" @1600x1200, DVI
Dell 2405FPW 24" [not unpacked yet!]
2x WD2500JB
WinXP Pro

jradmin

I've got a A8N SLI delux board with 4 512 sticks of OCZ plat rev 2 and I'm not having any problems. I'm only doing minor OC On the ram though, bumped up voltage to 2.8v and the latency to 2.0. I havent really had the time to mess with it anymore.

TheLostSwede

The board should work just fine with 4 modules, but it needs 2T and maybe DDR33 depending on the core of the cpu.

moots

Cheers for the responses, sounds encouraging so far.
I'll let you know when I get the kit and how it runs

Thanks again,


Moots

Zxcs

Hope this isn't resurrecting this thread from too far in the past but this EXACT same thing is happening to me. I have OCZ 3200 el plat rev2 (4x512) and I've tried tons of settings but cant seem to get it stable. Games always seem to crash when I start playing them (time is random, but usually between 5min-3hrs).

Anyone have ideas of ram settings to try?

TheLostSwede

Hi there,

Can you list the settings you use in the cpu, dram and jumperfree section? I have the board right here so i can help out a bit.

Zxcs

Tried many settings (all 2t) from 2-2-2-5 to 2.5-3-3-7 @ 400 and 333 and nothing seems to be stable enough to play games. DRAM voltage is 2.8. Comp just crashed 2min ago and wont boot now (have to take 2 sticks out and reboot and change settings).

What settings should I try (including twr/twrt etc.)?

TheLostSwede

Try the following settings:

Dram Configuration:

Timing Mode: Manual
Memclock index value: 400 mhz
Cas latency (TCL) : 2.5
Min ras active time (TRAS) : 7
Ras to Cas delay (TRCD) : 3
Row precharge time (TRP) : 3
Row Cycle time (TRC) : 16
Row refresh cycle time (TRFC) :22
Read-to-write time (TRWT) : 3
Write recovery time (TWR) : 3
1T/2T memory timing : 2
S/W Dram over 4gb remapping : Disabled
H/W Dram over 4gb remapping : Disabled

Hyper transport frequency : 3
Amd K8 Cool'nQuiet : Disabled

Jumperfree Configuration:

Overclock profile: Manual
CPU frequency : 200
PCI Express : 100mhz
DDR voltage : 2.8
Chipset voltage : 1.6
HT voltage : 1.25
CPU multiplier : 8 (the reason for a low multi is to test memory, not cpu)
CPU voltage : 1.550
PCI clock syncronization mode : 33.33mhz

Disable cool and quiet and all other options in bios you don't use.
Also, do all games crash or is it just BF2?

Zxcs

MackanzOCZ wrote:

Disable cool and quiet and all other options in bios you don't use.
Also, do all games crash or is it just BF2?

Going to try the settings right now, hope they work. Its ALL games not just bf2, if I run sp2004 (prime95 for two procs) it gets errors but at random times.

Zxcs

Just tried those settings.

Tried to start firefox but got the "firefox has encountered and error nad must close" message. I also tried sp2004 and it got errors within the first 10 seconds.

Any ideas on other settings I should try?

Thanks for the help, Zxcs